Pyramid Hill has long stirred local debate over its origin. Geologists consider it a natural landform created by glacial action and erosion, while some residents have argued that its top third is man-made and may be among the world's oldest pyramids. Snorri Thorfinnson proposed that ancient Native American mound builders, the Tewaukonians, lived in this region between 5,000 and 9,000 years ago, and because several burial mounds have been found near Fort Ransom, some believe the hill may be part of that group. No scientific conclusion has settled the question, but Native Americans continue to regard Pyramid Hill as a wakan, or powerful place of emergence into this world. Fort Ransom began in 1878 with J.D. Currie's general store on the hill where Scenic Heights now stands, and in 1881 Tyler James "T.J." Walker built lumber and flour mills that drew other merchants and settlers. The town, named for a nearby abandoned military fort, grew slowly despite lacking both railroad access and a grain elevator, two conditions usually essential for frontier prosperity on the Dakota frontier. Even so, the community endured and by 1920 had reached a population of 200, supported by stores, grain and lumber mills, a harness shop, bank, restaurant, doctor's office, post office, two churches, and a pool hall.